


Not-So-Good Titles For Murder Mysteries

by amathela



Category: Disney RPF
Genre: Community: spook_me, F/M, Halloween
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-07
Updated: 2009-11-07
Packaged: 2017-11-17 12:43:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/551700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amathela/pseuds/amathela
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which David Henrie kills Joe Jonas (but not for real, probably).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not-So-Good Titles For Murder Mysteries

"We need more candy," Joe says, and David would point out that they had plenty of candy half an hour ago, that the only reason they need more is because Joe won't stop eating it, but it seems easier just to refill the bowl. Or, well. It would be easier, if he didn't have to lift the bag with one hand while holding a flashlight with the other, but most of the candy ends up in the bowl, anyway.

Sort of.

"Wouldn't this be easier if we turned the lights back on?" Nick asks, and David kind of shrugs while Joe scoops up some of the candy that fell onto the counter.

And, okay, maybe Nick has a point, but David still thinks it was a good idea to cut the power. Or at least, it was a good idea an hour ago, when it was still light outside. Now, maybe not so much.

"It's fine," Joe says, holding out the candy - sugar free, which tastes kind of weird, but at least it's not going to kill any of them - like it's a peace offering. (Nick seems to think different.) "We're nearly done."

"Why don't we just -"

"Dude," David says, cutting Nick off. Not like having overhead lighting would be a bad thing, necessarily, but cutting the power was just about the extent of David's plan, so. Without it, he's pretty much got nothing. "Leave it, it's cool."

And he thinks Joe is probably silently backing him up, because Nick doesn't press the issue, and David really doesn't think that's because of his lame attempt at a non-explanation.

"Whatever," Nick says, but he swipes the flashlight, so when David tries to take the bowl of candy out to the living room, he ends up nearly tripping over the couch. Which is maybe kind of his own fault, in the end, so he lets it slide.

"Do we have everything?" Joe asks, and David looks around. Snacks, scary movies, a couple of gross-out props David managed to scam from the makeup crew. (Not like they're awesome or anything, but with the lights out, it's good enough.)

"Looks like it," he says.

And Joe, who he thinks probably knows more about what David's trying to do than David does, gives him a look that's probably supposed to be conspiratorial or something. Except, if it is, he's really, really bad at it. (Or maybe he isn't aiming for subtlety, which is also a possibility.) "What about the other stuff?"

"Taken care of," David says. He doesn't look at Nick, because he's pretty sure Nick would give him one of those 'what stupid thing are you planning?' looks that would probably make him rethink the whole thing.

"Cool," Joe says. He settles down on the couch, and reaches for the candy again. "Want to play some video games before the girls get here?"

-

Demi and Selena end up coming late, and David thinks he should probably notice, except they've been trying to work out a three-person rotation for two-player mode on Halo, and he got a little caught up in that, instead. But he jumps up from the couch when the doorbell rings, and Joe shoots him a look, like he's kind of making an idiot out of himself.

So, he should probably stop doing that.

"Um," he says. "I can get that." Even though it's not his house, but, whatever, he's closest to the door.

And it's not like he's in such a hurry to answer it that he almost trips over the couch again, or anything. It's just really dark in here.

"Hey," he says, propping open the door. To Demi, as well as Selena, even though Selena's the only one who smiles really brightly and envelops him in a hug like she hasn't seen him in a month instead of a few days.

At least, Selena's the only one who hugs him. Demi might be smiling, too, for all he knows, but it's kind of hard to see her when his head is mostly buried in Selena's hair.

"Hey," Selena chirps, extricating herself, and David only lets his hands linger on her waist for a moment. Then she peers over his shoulder, and wrinkles her nose. "You guys are playing Halo?"

"Um," he says. He's not really sure if that was a good, 'can I join in?' question, or a bad, 'you guys are so immature' question. "Yeah, whatever. We're watching movies, right?"

"Right," Demi says, already ahead of him, sitting down on the empty couch while Nick and Joe scramble off the floor. Selena sits beside her, in the middle, and before the other guys can move, David takes the last spot by the arm rest.

And, yeah, Joe totally notices. Nick, too, but at least he has the decency to pretend there's nothing strange about it. (Not so much Joe, who coughs, really loudly, and looks meaningfully at David as he leans back against Demi's legs.)

David ignores him, and hands the remote over to Nick. He's not even sure which movie is in the DVD player, but with the lights out, it's probably more trouble than it's worth to go through them all and check. Besides, it's not like the movies are really the point, anyway. They're just a way to get the party started.

And if Selena gets a little scared and maybe wants to cuddle up to him or something, that's just a bonus.

"It's really dark in here," Selena says, and David's so busy looking at her he misses the title card of the movie. Well, whatever. It's about zombies, that's probably enough information.

"Are you scared?" he asks, not quite teasing, and even in the darkness, he can see Joe elbow Demi, who smirks at him. Okay, so he's not exactly subtle, whatever. It's Halloween (or, well, a little late, but close enough), not Valentine's Day.

But Selena just shrugs, which is fine, it's not like he's obsessed with getting her to see him as something other than a friend. He likes being friends with her. It just, you know. Wouldn't suck. If she liked him.

Back.

"Why don't we just turn the lights on?" Demi asks, and Nick gives her a look, one David thinks he'd probably be able to make out even if Nick's face wasn't illuminated by the television.

"Power's out," Joe says, and Nick rolls his eyes.

"Then how are we watching movies?"

"The lights are out," David says, before Joe can try to explain it. "I guess they're on, like, a different circuit or something."

Yeah, that sounds like it makes sense.

"You should probably fix that," Demi says, and Nick looks deliberately at Joe, and then at David. Whatever, he already said he'll help them turn it back on after the party.

Besides, they don't need to turn the lights on to watch movies, so what's the big deal?

"Can I have some candy?" Selena asks a few minutes later, leaning into David so she doesn't have to yell over the movie. Which is ... um. What they're watching. Okay, so maybe he hasn't really been paying attention that closely. To the television.

"Sure," he says, and he's still kind of looking at her as he leans forward, so maybe that's why he picks up the bowl with the gross fake eyeballs instead of the one with red vines. Selena smiles at him, he thinks, but then her hand dips into the bowl, and she shrieks, which kind of makes him dump the rest of the eyeballs onto the couch. And onto him and Selena.

Which, fine, is maybe not entirely smooth.

Selena jumps up, and instead of rushing into his arms so he can comfort her, she slaps him, hard, on the shoulder. And it's not like he's going to admit it or anything, but it kind of hurts. She's got a good arm.

"David," she says, annoyed, and he hasn't really heard her say his name like that since they were first working on the show, when he and Jake used to prank her, back when she was Selena-who's-kind-of-like-a-sister-to-him and before she became Selena-who-maybe-isn't-so-much-like-a-sister-after-all.

"Sorry," he says, already rolling the props back into the bowl.

"Ew," she says, picking a fake eyeball out of her shirt, and David's eyes track the motion. "What is this?"

"Eyeballs," he says. Except what was really cool a few hours ago mostly just seems stupid now, and if he's trying to get her not to see him as an annoying brother type, he thinks maybe he's going about it wrong. "They're fake. I thought it would be cool. And gross."

"Gross, yes," she says, and leaves the rest unspoken. "Can I borrow a flashlight or something? I need to go clean up."

Nick hands her one, pausing to glare at David, and David slumps back against the arm of the couch as she leaves. So, okay, things aren't exactly going spectacularly so far. They'll get better.

Because, seriously, what's a better backdrop for romance than zombies? There's a reason the characters in these movies always end up hooking up. Even if, sometimes, they get eaten a few minutes later.

But that's probably not going to happen to him and Selena.

When Selena gets back, she sits beside him on the couch again, and David stretches an arm out across the back, casually, being careful not to touch her. He doesn't pretend to yawn or anything, because this isn't some cheesy film move, he's just, you know. Getting comfortable, or whatever.

Except it's a little hard to reach the snacks from his current position, so he ends up knocking over another bowl, and Nick turns around to stare at him, like he's ruining the whole movie-watching experience, like they're watching Schindler's List or something instead of Dawn Of The Dead. (He thinks. He hasn't really been paying attention, so for all he knows, they actually might be watching Schindler's List. If Schindler's List had zombies in it.)

"Sorry," David mutters - to Nick, maybe, or just in general. And, okay, he's probably going to have to admit this hasn't been his best night so far.

So, maybe he should just concentrate on the actual movie or whatever. After all, zombies are pretty cool, so it's not like it's a complete loss.

Unless -

"Are you cold?" he asks Selena, moving over a little closer to her.

"It's a little hot, actually," she says, and, well, yeah. But that's not really the point.

"Oh," he says. "Are you scared? 'Cause I can probably protect you."

Come on, they're freaking zombies. Who wouldn't be scared? (Except David. Zombies don't scare him. At all. And neither do dark, creepy, enclosed spaces, just for the record.)

"I think I'll be fine," she says.

Okay, then. The movie it is.

It doesn't take long for them to get up to the really gory part, and David glances over, like maybe Selena will be scared now, and he can offer to hold her hand or something. And he's right - at least, about her looking terrified.

He's wrong about Selena needing him to protect her. Instead, she's curled up against Demi, clutching her tightly while Demi holds onto Joe's arm.

This is so not his night.

-

"Dude," Joe says, when the movie's over. "That was awesome."

"That was disgusting," Selena says, but she's smiling, still holding Demi's hand.

"So," Joe says. "You guys want to order pizza or something?"

"After that?" Selena asks.

Joe shrugs. "Sure. Why not?"

Selena makes a face, and David tries really hard not to think it's adorable.

"I'm kind of full from all the candy," Demi says, even though they've only gone through, like, half the stuff they bought. And David's pretty sure most of that was eaten by Joe.

"Yeah," Nick says. "Maybe we should just watch another movie or something."

"Or," David says, "we could play a game."

"What kind of game?" Nick asks, like he's already suspicious. And it's not like they've even done anything - yet - to make him wary, but it's probably not an unfair reaction, either.

"Murder mystery," Joe says, and winks at David in a way that, even in the dim lighting, is probably not missed by anyone. But nobody really comments on it; maybe they just chalk it up to Joe being, well, Joe.

"Like, one of those pre-written things you get in a box?" Selena asks, and David really should be better at reading her tone by now, because he's not sure if he should be jumping to call the whole thing off.

"Yeah," Joe says. "We even got props."

Selena eyes David speculatively, and he tries not to look nervous. Or to stare back at her. And then, finally, she says, "Sure. That sounds like fun."

So maybe his night is getting better, already.

"Do we get to dress up?" Demi asks, twirling a little, and Joe laughs. Nick mostly looks like he still isn't convinced about the whole thing, but David's pretty sure he's just been outvoted.

"Um, if you want to dress up in whatever's in our closets, you can," Joe says, and Demi raises an eyebrow, which is - maybe something? David's mostly stopped trying to keep up.

"How are we going to read off those cards if there's no light?" Nick asks, and Joe twirls one of the flashlights, shining it directly in Nick's eyes. (And maybe David laughs, a little, because it's pretty funny, but he stops when Selena elbows him.)

"We'll wing it," Joe says, and David doesn't think Nick is really a 'wing it' kind of guy, but apparently he is the kind of guy who goes along with whatever Joe wants to do. Which still works, so, whatever.

In the end, Demi and Selena insist on getting into character, and it seems like that mostly means putting on stupid hats and making ridiculous faces at each other while David and Joe put the rest of the plan into action. Which is really just loading Joe up with a bunch of prop makeup, but if they manage to pull this off, it's going to be totally cool.

(David isn't really sure what Nick's doing, but he has a sneaking suspicion that maybe he's reading ahead on the game, like it's a script or something. Sometimes, David worries that _that's_ the kind of guy Selena goes for, but, well. There's got to be a reason they broke up, right?)

"Ready?" Joe asks, when they're done, and David manoeuvres himself, subtly, so that he's next to Selena when they sit down. Nick gives a resigned sort of sigh, like he's indulging a much younger sibling instead of his older brother, but Demi nudges him, and he almost smiles. Which is good enough.

"So, what's it called?" Selena asks, and David leans over, but Joe snatches the box away before he can get a good look at it. And then ends up practically sitting in Nick's lap, angling the box in the light, until Nick sighs and hands him the flashlight.

"Thanks," Joe says, but now he's squinting, like the light's _too_ bright. "Um, Murder On The ... something or other. I think it's a boat."

"Yeah," Nick says. "This is going to work really well."

But Joe's already passing out the character sheets, so, whatever. They'll probably manage.

-

"Where were you on the night of the murder?" Joe asks, shining the flashlight in Demi's eyes.

Demi blinks, and pushes his arm away. "Would you get that thing out of my face?"

"Answer the question," Joe says, and David thinks maybe he's getting a little too into his role, but that's okay. Because so is Selena, laughing prettily and clinging to David like she's a trust fund debutante, and David's more than happy to go along with it.

"I was -" Demi says, and reaches for her character sheet, but Joe moves to block her way. "Swimming. With the dolphins."

"On a cold winter's night?" Joe asks.

"Um," Demi says. "Yes?"

"She was at the ball," Nick says, and Demi quickly changes tack, nodding.

"Yes," she says. "I was at the ball. Dancing. Not swimming."

"And how do you know that?" Joe asks, swinging the flashlight around to spotlight Nick.

Because he read ahead. Of course.

"I was watching her," Nick says instead, lowering his voice, and if he had a moustache, David thinks he'd probably be twirling it. So maybe they're all getting a little too into their characters. "She was beautiful."

Demi nudges Nick fondly, and Joe scowls. "And did anyone see you?"

"I saw him," Selena volunteers, leaning forward, and even her voice sounds different. "He was lurking, and looking totally suspicious."

"And yet has an alibi for the time of the murder," Joe concludes, and turns on David. "Which makes Mr Winterbottom the only passenger unaccounted for."

"Worthington," Nick corrects, and Joe rolls his eyes.

"Whatever," he says, and then, to David, "confess, or you're going away for a very long time."

"Never," David says, and this is the part that - okay, they haven't exactly rehearsed, but they talked about it, a little. Kind of. Whatever, as long as Joe remembers to play along, it's going to be awesome. "You'll never throw me back in that hole."

And then he reaches for the prop gun, shoved under one of the pillows, and shoots Joe three times in the chest.

Selena squeezes David's arm, and maybe it's only a reflex, but it still doesn't suck. Then Joe slaps his hand against his chest, splitting the fake blood packets and making a dark stain bloom over his shirt, and Selena squeezes even harder.

"You," Joe stutters, and flails around a little - which maybe isn't such a good idea, in the darkness, and he ends up knocking over a lamp and an end table in the process. But, whatever, it's not David's house, he's not the one who's going to have to explain it. "You won't get away with this."

"It won't be the first time I've gotten away with murder," David says, and only glances over quickly at Selena, who's either still in character or in shock from the fake shooting. Over her shoulder, Nick looks like he's torn between finding the whole thing amusing and protesting that it wasn't in the script.

"You'll ... pay ... for this," Joe groans, rolling on the floor, and it takes another minute before he's completely still. And David has to hand it to him, as death scenes go, Joe's is ... entertaining.

"You monster!" Selena gasps, sliding away, and leans over Joe like she's checking for a pulse. "You killed -"

And then Joe sits up, arms outstretched, and Selena screams.

"Come on!" David says, and grabs Selena's arm, pulling her closer to him. Demi's sitting at least a couple of feet further back than she was a second ago, even if she's trying to look like she wasn't startled, and Nick genuinely looks like he isn't, like he's used to Joe's pranks. And a little bit like he wishes he could be hanging out with normal people instead of Joe and David.

"What's going on?" Selena asks, sounding half in character, still, like she's not sure if this is still part of the game.

"I think," David says, stepping in between her and Joe like he's shielding her, putting as much emphasis as he can into his voice, "Joe ... has become a zombie."

"Grr," Joe agrees. "Argh."

And then he stumbles towards them, tripping a little over the end table, and David grabs Selena again, and yells, "Run!"

-

By the time they get halfway down the hall, and David knocks his elbow against the wall for the third time, he's starting to think that maybe cutting the lights wasn't such a good idea, after all. Technically, Selena's flashlight is giving off enough light to see by, but it's pointing towards their feet, not really doing either of them much good; if anything, though, it's making her clutch him tighter, leaning into him as they run, so maybe it's not a completely bad thing.

He can still hear Joe behind them, groaning listlessly, his feet shuffling on the floor like some bad B-movie zombie. And, further back, Demi giggling while Nick speaks in soft tones, probably explaining why they're all idiots. But Selena's still holding onto him like she doesn't seem to mind, so maybe he doesn't care so much what Nick thinks.

"What do we do? Selena asks a moment later, slightly breathless, which - honestly, he's not sure if he ever expected her to go along with this, but they've all been a little tightly wound recently, so whatever, he's not going to question it.

"We need to kill Joe," he says, trying to keep his voice even, and she nods gravely as Joe moans again, sounding more like he's in pain than anything else.

"Okay," she says, and she looks like she's trying just as hard not to laugh as David is. "Should we split up?"

Not if he can help it, David thinks, and swallows a brief flash of disappointment.

"We only have one flashlight," he points out after a minute, and, hey, that even sounds like a genuine reason. He knew there was a reason they cut the power.

"Right," she agrees, and he tries not to be too relieved. "So, then, we need ... what, weapons?"

"Good idea," he says, and Selena smiles - conspiratorial, almost, like they're in on some great adventure together. So, you know, maybe his instincts are good, after all. "Come on, let's check Joe's room."

Not that going into Joe's room in the dark doesn't sound like a genuinely frightening prospect all on its own, but if anybody's likely to have stuff lying around that could be used as a weapon, it's probably Joe.

As he moves forward again ahead of Selena, his hand brushes hers, and he takes a deep breath. He can't hear anything, any more, but Joe must still be around somewhere. Unless he's given up already, which isn't entirely out of the realm of possibility.

"Ready?" he whispers to Selena, and she nods, her chin brushing against his shoulder. He moves back down the hall towards Joe's room, slowly, takes a hesitant step inside (and his hand reaches automatically for the light switch, before he realises what he's doing), and breathes out -

And then Joe lunges forward from behind the bed, and Selena screams, pulling David back sharply.

"The other way," he says, stumbling a little, and he tells himself his heart isn't racing, he isn't _scared_ , it's not even that dark in here. Joe just ... startled him a little, is all. He's fine.

Plus, Selena's the one who screamed, so maybe she's feeling just as jumpy.

"In here," he says, pulling Selena into the first room they find, closing the door behind them. The room seems even darker than the hallway, if it's possible, but the floor is cold beneath his feet, definitely tiles, so it isn't hard to guess where they are.

Okay, so the bathroom isn't exactly the most comfortable place to hide, but at least he can lock the door.

"Quick," he whispers. He's maybe standing a little closer to Selena than he really needs to, but he's whispering, so. "Turn the flashlight off."

"Oh," she says, like she'd forgotten about it; probably because they haven't been using it to see by, and it's still pointing at the floor. "Okay, just - damn it!"

David has to bite his lip to keep from yelling when Selena drops the flashlight, and it lands squarely on his foot before rolling off onto the tiles. It makes a faint clattering sound, most of the impact muffled by _David's foot_ , but it's shining straight at the door, and he can only imagine that the light is visible from the hallway.

"Oops," Selena says, dashing past him to kneel towards the light. "Sorry!"

"It's okay," he says, and he's still whispering, so maybe she can't hear the way his voice is totally strained. Selena leans down to pick up the flashlight, and he kneels beside her, helping her out like it's a two person job. Which, fine, maybe not all his excuses to get close to her are good ones.

His hand closes over hers, and he squeezes, a little - completely involuntarily, he swears - and the flashlight rolls away again. Selena giggles, lunging for it, but only succeeds in batting it further away, and so David does the same, ending up half tangled with her as he finally shuts off the light.

"We did it," she says, and he shushes her, a little too loudly to really be effective. She nods, barely a faint outline in the dim light coming in from the window, and her hair sways across his shoulders. They're still sitting way closer than they should be, he realises, but he doesn't want to be the one who moves; mostly, he's kind of enjoying this, his legs stretched out alongside Selena's, his hand somewhere near her waist, the way he can still smell her perfume or whatever over the faint antiseptic of the bathroom. It's not exactly romantic, like, they're in a bathroom, playing at some stupid game they probably grew out of ten years ago, but it's dark enough, and they're close enough, that it almost is.

"Do you think he's still out there?" she whispers, and it takes him a minute to remember what she's talking about. Joe. Right.

"I don't know," he whispers back, and maybe it's his imagination playing tricks on him, but he could swear she's closer, now, just a little. "Do you - do you want me to check?"

She shakes her head, and if he were facing a little to the left, he thinks her nose probably would have brushed his. So, they're definitely sitting closer. And David wishes that there were just a little more light, that he could make out her expression, because this could be the moment - like, _the moment_ \- or it could just be that it's harder to judge distance in the dark. And if it's that, then he definitely doesn't want to do something stupid and ruin everything.

His mind is made up for him when Selena stands up, and after a moment, David does the same. She holds out a hand to help him up, and he takes it, smiling as her fingers clasp over his. And then -

It's an accident, he swears, when he stumbles. He sways backwards, and his grip tightens on Selena instead of releasing her, pulling her with him. He regains his balance a second later, his back almost hitting the wall, but Selena's still touching him, her hand flat on his chest, and he closes his eyes, like that's going to help him think straight, like seeing her is the problem.

"Sorry," she says, and he doesn't know why she's apologising; he's the one who tripped, he's the one who started all this in the first place. But he opens his eyes, and Selena's standing right there, closer than she needs to, and not looking like she's planning on moving any time soon.

She's so close he could probably kiss her, and it's not that he doesn't want to; it's just that it's _Selena_ , and the closer he gets to actually thinking this is going to happen, the more ways his mind comes up with that this could all go horribly wrong.

"It's okay," he says, and he reaches for her, his hand steadying itself on her waist, kind of like a compromise. "It was my fault."

She doesn't say anything, and the silence seems really thick all of a sudden, almost uncomfortable, like they're both waiting for something. And she still doesn't step back, doesn't move his hand off her waist, and maybe it's a really terrible idea, but maybe it's the closest thing to a signal he's going to get.

(And if it's not, maybe he can blame the movie, or the darkness, or something.)

So he closes his eyes, almost, and kisses her. And it feels like his heart literally stops for the full three seconds it takes for her to kiss him back.

And they're way past kissing, to the point where his hand is moving up over Selena's shirt and he's turned them so she's the one with her back pressed against the wall, when a loud thump from somewhere down the hallway makes him break off, pulls him back to reality. Because, yeah, they're sort of making out in their friends' bathroom in the middle of a party, in the middle of his and Joe's stupid game, and maybe he kind of forgot about that part, a little.

"Um," he says, and runs a hand through his hair, shifting back on the balls of his feet. "Maybe we should -"

"Yeah," Selena says, but not so quickly that he thinks she's desperate to get out of being alone with him. And he thinks she might be smiling, so that's probably a good sign, too. "Maybe we should get back to the party."

And then, just to make sure, he kisses her again before opening the door.

-

"Dude," Joe says, when they get back to the living room. He and Demi are sitting next to each other, leaning back against the couch, and he doesn't look up from the game of Halo they're currently engrossed in. "Where have you guys been?"

"Um," David says, and glances at Selena. He can't quite make out her expression, but even so, he isn't sure telling the truth would be the best idea. "We thought you were chasing us."

Demi nudges Joe with her shoulder, which makes him fumble a little, and he glances up at David. "Yeah," he says, almost apologetically. "I gave up."

Right. Because they were so well hidden.

"About an hour ago," Nick clarifies, looking from David to Selena like he knows exactly what took them so long to come out of hiding. But it's probably just Nick being suspicious; David doesn't think he has lip gloss smudged all over his lips or anything, and it's dark enough that Nick probably wouldn't be able to tell if he did.

"Whatever," he says, and he almost squeezes Selena's hand before she moves to sit on the couch. Demi turns around as she does, giving Selena a speculative look, and after a brief internal debate over whether or not it's too obvious, David joins her.

Besides, it's not like there are a lot of other places to sit. It just makes sense.

And after a few minutes, it feels like everyone mostly stops paying attention to them, anyway, their focus directed back at the television as Joe gets up to start another game. (He was distracted, he says, and Demi scoffs.) David glances over at Selena, bumping her knee with his foot, and she smiles at him; after a minute, when he's sure nobody's watching, he leans forward to take her hand, pulling her back against him, his hand tracing circles on her hip on the side that's hidden from view.

"Guys," Nick says after a minute, and David freezes for a second before he realises that Nick's talking to Joe, not him. "Can we turn the lights back on now?"

Selena half turns, and David studiously looks elsewhere. Right, the lights. Which he'd totally forgotten about.

"Relax," Joe says, and leans over Demi to hand Nick his controller as his character collapses on the screen. "We'll turn them back on later. Here, just play. I'm pretty sure Demi cheats."

"Hey," Demi protests, and elbows Joe as he sits back down. "Just because you suck."

"Just because you keep getting lucky," he shoots back, and David buries his head in Selena's hair, squeezing her hand, and tunes them out.

He thinks tonight was a pretty good night, after all.


End file.
